A multiscale computational fluid dynamics approach to simulate the micro-fluidic environment within a tissue...

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Computational Biology
• Tissue Engineering

Background:

• Mechanical stimulation, including wall shear stress (WSS), significantly influences cellular behaviors like differentiation and proliferation.
• Perfusion bioreactors are commonly used in tissue engineering to apply WSS to cells within scaffolds.
• Accurately simulating the micro-fluidic environment within scaffolds is crucial for understanding cellular mechanical stimulation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a computationally efficient method for quantifying the micro-fluidic environment in tissue engineering scaffolds with irregular pore geometries.
• To assess the feasibility and accuracy of a multiscale computational fluid dynamics approach for this purpose.

Main Methods:

• A multiscale computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach was employed.
• The technique was designed to handle highly irregular pore geometries typical of biomaterial scaffolds.
• Computational cost and central processing unit (CPU) time were key metrics for evaluation.

Main Results:

• The proposed multiscale CFD approach successfully captured the wall shear stress (WSS) distribution in most regions within complex scaffolds.
• The method demonstrated a considerably low central processing unit (CPU) time requirement.
• The technique proved to be a feasible and low-computational cost solution for micro-fluidic environment quantification.

Conclusions:

• The multiscale CFD approach provides an effective and efficient means to simulate and understand the micro-fluidic environment within irregular scaffolds.
• This method can enhance the understanding of mechanical stimulation on cells in tissue engineering.
• The reduced computational cost makes this technique valuable for future tissue engineering research.